SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, May 1, 2008.- Jorge Perez Vento, the Cuban technician, won the award as Coach of the Year of the Puerto Rican Women’s Volleyball Superior League.

At the helm of the Guaynabo Mets, Perez Vento had to battle a lot of injuries suffered by his players and qualified the team in the sixth position of the regular series with a 9-13 record.

The Guaynabo Mets made it up to the quarter finals round in the post season phase.

Perez Vento received 12 votes to easily outdo Luis Enrique Ruiz of  Pinkin of Corozal, and Jose Besosa of Carolina Giants, who each received 6 votes.  More Spanish

Havana, Cuba, April 30, 2008 - Cuban Women's Technical Director Antonio Perdomo is in a confident mood as the Beijing Games approach.

"We have the option for the gold in Beijing and we are certainly going after it," said Perdomo, who recognised there are six or seven teams also in with a shout to be crowned Olympic Champions.

"But we, of course, don't train to lose and we will play to get the ultimate goal," said Perdomo.

The Women's Olympic Tournament is set for August 9-23 and the Cuban Women, currently taking part in a training camp, will play in three tournaments ahead of the event, culminating with the FIVB World Grand Prix.

Following the 20-player national training camp divided into two groups – the first-team "orientales" and second-team "occidentales" – and now that China has declined to organize their traditional annual May tournaments, More Spanish

PEREZ ZELEDON, Costa Rica, April 28, 2008.- Costa Ricans Luis Sandoval-Rooper Espinoza and Guatemalans Blanca Recinos-Susana Alvarado won the gold medals of the First U-21 Central American Beach Volleyball Championships.

Both winning pairs had been participating and getting experience in the first stages of the 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit in Boca Chica and Guatemala.

Sandoval-Espinoza took the boy’s title by defeating Guatemalans Aldo Arias-Julio Recinos by score of 21-14, 21-13 in the final match. Recinos-Alvarado needed three sets to win the girl’s crown by edging the Nicaraguan pair of Valeska Hernandez-Lolette Rodriguez 21-18, 14-21, 15-8. More Spanish

Lausanne, April 28, 2008 - Gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland, athletes from around the world who represent the voice of sportsmen and women on the International Olympic Committee, met to discuss how to address the challenging international backdrop into which the Olympic Games have been drawn in recent weeks. The Athletes' Commission members spoke passionately and from their own experiences about the inappropriateness of manipulating and using athletes as political tools. At the close of the meeting, they released the following statement.

"In 2001, the International Olympic Committee voted to award the Olympic Games in 2008 to Beijing, China. We believe the rationale for that choice – that the bid was the best one, technically excellent and that the Games should be brought to a country where one fifth of the world lives – was a sound rationale then, and remains sound today. Indeed, some of our Commission members were members of the IOC at the time and fully supported the choice of Beijing and still do. .More Spanish

SAN SALVADOR, April 27, 2008.- The USA tandems dominated the 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit in El Salvador by sweeping the gold medals in both genders on Sunday.

Americans Ed Ratledge-David Fischer, also winners in the first stop in Boca Chica, took the men’s gold medal with a clear 21-16, 21-14 triumph over the Puerto Rican duo of Orlando Irrizarry-Roberto Rodriguez. They finished the event with 6-0 and 12-0 record in matches and sets respectively.

Fellow countrywomen Erin Byrd-Stephanie Chapek topped the women’s side with a 21-19, 21-13 win over host Laura Molina-Ivonne Soler of El Salvador 1.More Spanish

SAN SALVADOR, April 26, 2008.- USA, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and El Salvador 1 advanced to the men’s semi finals of the 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit at El Salvador.

Puerto Rico will be playing against Costa Rica, while the USA team will be pitted with host El Salvador 1 on Sunday.

The Americans (Ed Ratledge-David Fischer) and the Puerto Ricans (Orlando Irrizarry-Roberto Rodriguez) entered the final-four round through the winners’ bracket, while the other two teams benefited from the double-elimination system. More Spanish

SAN SALVADOR, April 26, 2008.- USA and El Salvador 1 became the first semi finalists of  the women’s field in the 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit at El Salvador. Both tandems won their two matches of Saturday advancing directly to the stage of the last four teams.

Americans (Erin Byrd-Stephanie Chapek) defeated Canada (Tammy Thomas-Kristina Long) 21-17, 21-15 and continued their success by downing Puerto Rico (Sheila Lopez-Maritere Ramos) 21-18, 21-19. Backed by the local fans, El Salvador 1 (Laura Molina-Ivonne Soler) won against Costa Rica (Suzane Calderon-Tatiana Murillo) 21-12, 21-13  More Spanish

SAN SALVADOR, April 25, 2008.- The men team of Dominican Republic won Pool C of the 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit in El Salvador by winning three matches on Friday.

Yewddys Perez-Charlin Vargas finished the day with a 21-18, 21-12 victory over Guatemala 1 (Jorge Bolanos-Erick Garrido) in a battle of unbeaten teams that both advanced to the second phase. They previously defeated El Salvador 3 (David Vargas-Carlos Leiva) 21-14, 21-19 and Trinidad & Tobago (Colin Charles-Jason Dennis) 21-14, 21-10.

Costa Ricans Andres Lopez-Jose Suarez also won their three matches in Pool D. More Spanish

SAN SALVADOR, April 25, 2008.- The women’s teams of Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Canada won their respective pools with 2-0 records advancing to Saturday’s double elimination main bracket. Teams El Salvador 1 and 2 also moved up with 1-1 mark along with USA and St. Lucia.

Puerto Ricans Sheila Lopez-Maritere Ramos won 21-12, 21-16 over St Kitts & Nevis (Shanicia Dyer-Glynis Wilkes) and then edged ESA 1 (Laura Molina-Ivonne Soler) 21-18, 23-21.

Costa Ricans Suzane Calderon-Tatiana Murillo beat ESA 2 (Frida Larios-Ana Aquino) 21-13, 14-21, 15-11, More Spanish

SAN SALVADOR, April 25, 2008.- The President of El Salvador National Sport Institute  (INDES) declared officially open the third leg of the 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit in a ceremony that took place Thursday night at Los Cebollines restaurant.

Mr. Jorge Hernandez Isussi welcomed the teams from thirteen countries participating in the event which take place throughout this weekend. He expressed the satisfaction of the official authorities of El Salvador for hosting this competition and praised the efforts of the directors of the National Volleyball Federation and the support of the NORCECA Confederation. More Spanish

SAN SALVADOR, April 24, 2008.- A workshop addressed to the media covering the El Salvador stage of the 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit was conducted by Dr. Roosevelt Comarazamy under the auspices of the FIVB Regional Development Center in Dominican Republic and the NORCECA Confederation.

Dr. Comarazamy was invited to El Salvador by Dr.Manuel Lozano, President of the National Federation of El Salvador and Vice President of the National Olympic Committee. The opening ceremony of the workshop was attended also by Mr. Manuel Nuila, Coordinator of the Olympic Academy of El Salvador, and Prof. Nelson Ramírez, Director of the Regional Center. More Spanish  

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, April 24, 2008.- Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, President of NORCECA and Technical Delegate for Volleyball and Beach Volleyball of the the 2009 Caribbean Games’ tournaments, conducted the first inspection on the venues for those competitions.

This inspection was the first to be conducted for any sport to be contested in the Games. Mr. Marte Hoffiz also met with the Chairman of the Board of the Organizing Committee, Mrs. Dennise Demming, and the Secretary of Caribbean National Olympic Committees, Mr. Elton Prescott, while in Trinidad and Tobago. More Spanish  

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, April 23, 2008.- The First Central American Championships of Beach Volleyball U-21 in both genders will be held at Perez Zeledon on April 24-27.

The event is being organized by the Association of Central American Volleyball Federations (AFECAVOL), The Costa Rican National Federation, the Beach Volleyball Association of Costa Rica and the Canton Committee for Sports and Recreation of Perez Zeledon.

The competition will be held at Sands Stadium of Hotel Arbolela Lorimar with the participation of teams from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Costa Rica.

The General Technical Meeting is scheduled for April 24, followed by a welcoming dinner to all the participants, delegates, media and organizers. More Spanish  

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, April 20, 2008.- Mexico swept the gold medals in the Guatemala’s leg of the 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball circuit on Sunday with victories for Juan Virgen-Aldo Miramontes in the men’s division and Bibi Candelas-Mayra Garcia in the women’s side.

Virgen and Miramontes won with a come-from-behind victory over the Cuban tandem of Yoendry Kindelan-Leonel Munder. Virgen-Miramontes recovered from losing a close first set and took the victory 21-23, 21-17, 15-11.

Candelas-Garcia erased a two-point deficit in the first set. More Spanish  

....Pic: www.comotedeje.com

The 11 CAZOVA Congress was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday 19 April 2008.  Sixteen delegates from 22 countries were present and three countries were represented by proxies, Mr. Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, President of NORCECA Confederation was present to preside over the congress. 

One of the most important topics discussed was the registration of the Caribbean teams in the 2010 FIVB World Championships.  It is expected that all 22 of the National Federations, including Guadeloupe and Martinique territories will register their male and females national teams. 

More

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, April 19, 2008.- The tandems of Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico..are the semi finalists of the Men’s 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit.

On Saturday action, Cubans Yoendri Kindelan-Leonel Munder got victories over Andres Lopez-Jose Suarez of Costa Rica (1) by score of 21-14, 21-15 and the USA team of Dan Madeen-Kevin Gregan 22-20, 21-13.

Mexicans Juan Virgen-Aldo Miramontes defeated Puerto Rico (Orlando Irrizarry-Roberto Rodriguez) 21-15, 21-19 and then beat Dominican Republic (Yewddys Perez-Charlin Vargas) 21-12, 21-13. More Spanish  ....Pic: www.comotedeje.com

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, April 19, 2008.- Cuba and Mexico (2) advanced to the semi final phase of the second leg of the Women’s 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit.

The team of Cubans Ion Canet-Nirian Sinal moved to the final-four’s round with a 21-19, 21-17 victory over the Guatemala (1) tandem of Maria Jose Orellana-Anna Ramírez. Meanwhile, the Mexican duo of Diana Estrada-Rosario Reyes grabbed the ticket to the semi finals with a triumph over Guatemala (2) of Blanca Recinos-Susana Alvarado by score of 21-13, 21-8. Both losing teams are still alive in the quarterfinals. More Spanish ....Pic: www.comotedeje.com

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, April 18, 2008.- The Cuban duo of Ion Canet-Nirian Sinal twice had to come from behind and play three sets but at the end emerged with a pair of victories in the first day of action of the 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit.

On Friday morning, Canet-Sinal, winners of the first leg in Boca Chica, first defeated Laura Molina-Ivonne Soler of El Salvador 19-21, 21-15, 15-6. Then in the afternoon, they edged Mexicans Bibiana Candelas-Mayra Garcia 17-21, 21-18, 15-9.

In the first match, Canet suffered a left foot injury in the second set when they were ahead 17-14.  More Spanish  Pic: www.comotedeje.com

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, April 18, 2008.- Cubans Yoendri Kindelan-Leonel Munder started the 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit with the right foot by scoring a 21-8, 21-15 victory over the Nicaraguans Winston Calderon-Francisco Castro on Friday.

Puerto Ricans Orlando Irrizarry-Roberto Rodriguez, runner-ups in the opening leg in Boca Chica, took a 21-19, 21-11 triumph over Guatemala (2) of Jaime Ozuna-Ivan Pineda. The duo of Guatemala (1) of Jorge Bolanos-Erick Garrido crushed Trinidadians Colin Charles-Jason Dennis 21-7, 21-5. More Spanish

Pic: www.comotedeje.com

GUATEMALA CITY, April 18, 2008.- A workshop addressed to the media covering the second leg of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit in Guatemala was conducted by the experienced journalist Roosevelt Comarazamy, the NORCECA Press Officer.

Comarazamy was introduced to the participants by Mrs. Marta Centeno de SAJCHÉ, General Secretary of NORCECA, in the presence also of Mr. Nelson Ramirez, Executive Director of the Confederation.  More Spanish

GUATEMALA CITY, April 18, 2008.- A record of 16 countries are represented in the  second stop of the 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit which start today at Campo de Marte facilities. Seventeen tandems in the men’s division and sixteen in the women’s side have been registered.

The participating countries are: Aruba, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, United States, St Kitts & Nevis, Trinidad & Tobago and St. Vincent & Grenadines. More Spanish

GUATEMALA CITY, April 17, 2008.- The second leg of the 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit was inaugurated last night with the official opening pronounced by Mr. Alvaro Arzu, Mayor of Guatemala City.

The ceremony was attended by participating athletes, delegates from NORCECA, the Executive Committee of the Guatemalan National Volleyball Federation led by its president Mr. Luis Enrique Santis, Directors of the National Confederation and representatives of the Municipality. More Spanish

More Info and Photos

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 16, 2008.- Barbados-based FIVB's Regional Volleyball Development Centre continues to provide tremendous opportunities for coaches and teachers in the Caribbean with the recent hosting of a technical seminar with emphasis on defence, reception and the libero.

The one-week seminar was conducted by international coach, Jivko Jetchev of Bulgaria who imparted new ideas and skills to 23 coaches. Many well-known local coaches such as assistant national coaches, John Stuart and Basil Jemmott as well as Andrew Culpepper and Corene Brathwaite made full use of the knowledge opportunity. More Spanish

ANAHEIM, California, April 14, 2008 – USA Volleyball, in conjunction with NBC and the U.S. Olympic Committee, will host an Olympic Exhibition volleyball match between the U.S. Men’s National Team and Argentina on May 27 in Irvine, California.

The U.S. Men’s National Team is ranked third in the world and qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games by winning the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in January in Puerto Rico. Argentina is ranked sixth in the world and will be vying for an Olympic berth at the Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament on May 31-June 8 in Tokyo, Japan. More Spanish

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, April 14, 2008 – USA Volleyball, in conjunction with NBC and the U.S. Olympic Committee, will host three matches as part of a 2008 Olympic Exhibition series between the U.S. Women’s National Team and Brazil during June 11-14 prior to the FIVB World Grand Prix and the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Both the United States and Brazilian women’s teams qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games with medal-stand performances at the 2007 FIVB World Cup. Brazil finished with the silver medal at the World Cup, while the U.S. finished with the bronze despite defeating their exhibition match opponent in head-to-head competition during the World Cup. More Spanish

ROSEAU, Dominica, April 12, 2008.- The Dominica Amateur Volleyball Association was the recipient of the “Association of the Year Award”, a recognition granted by the Ministry for Sports at a special ceremony that took place last April 4.

Mr. Rupert Sorhaindo, re-elected as President of the Association, informed also that a coach of the national teams was elected as “Coach of the Year” and one of the four national referees was the recipient of the “Official of the Year Award.

“We are very proud about receiving this honour from the Ministry of Sports and we take this opportunity to pledge our National Federation fullest cooperation in the interest of the development of volleyball and beach volleyball nationally, regionally and internationally,” said Mr. Sorhaindo. More Spanish

HAVANA, Cuba, April 12, 2008.- Cubans Ion Canet-Nirian Sinal and Leonel Munder-Yoendy Kindelán are preparing themselves for the second phase of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit in Guatemala City on April 18-20 where they look to maintain their podiums.

The women tandem hope again to dominate their opponents as they did in the tour’s opening competition on the sands of Boca Chica, Dominican Republic and continue their lead in the rankings, since this tournament grant points for the Central American and Caribbean Games of Puerto Rico in 2010.  More Spanish

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, April 11, 2008.- USA Volleyball announced the coaching staffs for the Women’s Junior National Team and the Girls’ Youth National Team for the upcoming 2008 season.

Paula Weishoff, head women’s volleyball coach at Concordia University Irvine, will serve as head coach of the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team that will compete at the NORCECA U-20 Continental Championship July 20-28 in Saltillo, Mexico. She will be assisted by UCLA Assistant Coach Kim Jagd and Texas A&M University Assistant Coach John Corbelli.

 More Spanish

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, April 9, 2008.- A workshop for the media covering the beach volleyball tournaments in Guatemala and El Salvador will be conducted by Dr. Roosevelt Comarazamy, the NORCECA Press Officer.

The workshop is being coordinated by the FIVB Regional Development Center in the Dominican Republic and the support of the NORCECA Confederation, while the exchange with the media will be organized by the National Federations of those countries.

Prof. Nelson Ramirez, director of the development center, considered both beach volleyball events as ideal vehicles to relay the media of those countries the information about the way FIVB and NORCECA handle their operations with the press. More Spanish

SAN  JOSE, Costa Rica, April 9, 2008.- The final matches of the Twentieth Costa Rican National Beach Volleyball Championship were well fought elevating to a high level the emotions of the fans who resisted the persistent drizzle and cold weather last Sunday at Parque Metropolitano.

Ingrid Morales and Natalia Alfaro (Total Natural) confirmed their supremacy as the best women Costa Rican pair but this time they needed to utilize their best abilities and skills to defeat Ivette Alas and Marianela Alfaro (Cristal) by score of 22-20, 21-19. More Spanish

WINNIPEG, Canada, April 8, 2008.- Team Canada Volleyball would like to announce the list of invited athletes for the 2008 Senior Men’s Selection Camp, to be held this May at the University of Manitoba’s Investors Group Athletic Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Canada’s top men’s volleyball players will take part in the Selection Camp May 8th – 11th at the University of Manitoba, which will include members of last year’s Senior men’s team, as well as newly identified talent from the university and professional ranks. More Spanish

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, April 8, 2008 – The FIVB has approved the match schedule for the 2008 World League, Volleyball's flagship annual event involving the world's best Men's Volleyball players.

The 2008 edition will involve 16 National Teams playing 96 matches over six consecutive weekends in 41 cities across the globe and competing for more than USD 20 million in Prize Money.

The six Intercontinental Rounds begin the weekend of June 13-15 and end the weekend of July 18-20. The 16 participating teams are divided into four pools, with each team playing their pool opponents twice over a weekend both home and away.

The Final Round will be contested by six teams playing a total of 10 matches in Rio de Janeiro through July 23-27. The Finals will include Brazil as organizing country, the winners of each pool and a wild card chosen by the FIVB from the best second-ranked teams in the Intercontinental Rounds. More Spanish

SAITAMA, Japan, April 7, 2008.- The Toray Arrows defeated the Denso Airybees in four sets in the Premier League women's final on Sunday, led by strong performances from national team center Erika Araki and Dominican attacker Bethania De La Cruz.

Araki and De La Cruz helped Toray take control of the match at Saitama Super Arena en route to a 25-22, 21-25, 25-19, 25-20 win and its first league title since taking over the team from Unitika, which won six top-flight crowns before being dissolved in 2000.
 
The multi-talented De la Cruz, member of the Dominican Republic National Team, topped all the scorers with 29 points while displaying her skills throughout the match. Araki was named the season's Most Valuable Player while her team posted a 23-4 record.
 
In the fourth set, Toray trailed 11-8 before reeling off eight straight points behind hard-hitting De La Cruz and Arai's blocks. More Spanish

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, April 7, 2008 – The FIVB has confirmed the match schedule for the 2008 World Grand Prix, the annual international Volleyball competition involving the world's best Women players.

The 2008 edition involves 12 National Teams playing a total of 69 matches over four consecutive weekends in 10 cities. The Preliminary Rounds begin the weekend of June 20-22 and end the weekend of July 4-6, with each team playing nine matches over the first three weekends.

The Preliminary Rounds are set to take place in Kobe, Japan, Ningbo, China and Alassio, Italy, on the first weekend, Vinh Phuc, Vietnam, Wroclaw, Poland, and Hong Kong the second and Bangkok, Thailand, Taipei, Chinese Taipei, and Macau the third.

The Final Round is scheduled to be contested in Yokohama, Japan, by six teams playing a total of 15 matches in a round-robin format through July 9-13. More Spanish

WINNIPEG, Canada, April 7, 2008.- Team Canada Volleyball is pleased to announce the list of invited athletes for the 2008 Senior Women’s Selection Camp, to be held this May at the University of Manitoba’s Investors Group Athletic Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. 
 
Canada’s best women’s volleyball players will take part in the Selection Camp May 5th – 9th at the University of Manitoba, which will include members of last year’s Senior women’s team, More Spanish

ST. LUCIA, April 5, 2008.- The team of St. Lucia won the OECS Ladies Invitational Volleyball by defeating St. Kitts & Nevis 12-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-23 in the championship game at the indoor practice facility near the Beausejour Cricket Ground before a huge crowd.

Six countries participated in the 4-day event: St. Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis; Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, French St. Martin and St. Vincent & The Grenadines. More Spanish

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, April 4, 2008.- Seven teams of each gender have already confirmed their participation in the Guatemala Beach Volleyball Tournament, the second stop of the 2008 NORCECA Circuit.

Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Guatemala will participate with teams in both genders while Canada and Dominican Republic have registered teams in women and men respectively. More Spanish

NANJING, China, April 2, 2008.- The USA Women’s National Training Team finished a tour playing against China clubs with a 5-3 record following a 25-22, 25-23, 25-22 victory over JiangSu on Wednesday.

The USA victory evened the two-match series with JiangSu, which won Tuesday’s match in four sets (25-20, 26-28, 25-23, 25-20).

Team USA's three-week training tour of China was designed to allow the coaches to evaluate a younger group of players in preparation for Olympic Games roster selections. The USA qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games by finishing with a bronze medal at the 2007 FIVB World Cup.

'This was a good final match for us in China against a challenging team,' USA Women's National Team Head Coach 'Jenny' Lang Ping said. More Spanish

Lausanne, April 2, 2008 – The FIVB has confirmed the match schedule for the Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tokyo, Japan, that will decide the remaining four places available in the Beijing Olympics Women’s Volleyball Tournament.

The round-robin tournament through May 17-25 doubles up as the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament and so the best three teams plus the best Asian team (even if any of the best three teams are Asian) will book their tickets to Beijing.

Hosts Japan will be joined by Thailand, Korea, Kazakhstan (best-ranked teams at the Asian Continental Championship), Serbia, Poland (best world-ranked teams from CEV), Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (best world-ranked teams from NORCECA).  More Spanish

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, April 1, 2008 – The FIVB has set the match schedules for the Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournaments in Düsseldorf, Germany, Espinho, Portugal and Tokyo, Japan, that will decide the remaining four places up for grabs in the Beijing Olympics Men’s Volleyball Tournament.

The winner of each round-robin tournament will qualify for Beijing. In Tokyo, the winner of the tournament plus the best Asian team (even if the winner is Asian) will qualify for the Games as the Japan event doubles up as the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament. More Spanish

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, March 31, 2008.- The Russian club team Dinamo Tattransgaz KAZAN, which includes USA Men’s National Team members Clay Stanley and Lloy Ball, won the 2007-2008 Indesit European Champions’ League at Miejski Arena in Lodz, Poland on Sunday.

Many USA national team players compete for international professional volleyball clubs when they are not playing for the United States.

Stanley, an opposite, was named the Most Valuable Player of the final tournament. Ball plays setter for the team.

Dinamo KAZAN defeated Poland’s PGE Skra Belchatow in the semi final, 3-2 (25-21, 25-16, 18-25, 20-25, 15-12) before beating Italy’s Sisley TREVISO in the final, 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 18-25, 15-13).

Stanley scored 21 points on 20 kills and one block in the semi final match against Skra Belchatow. Ball scored five points on two kills, two blocks and one ace. More Spanish

HAVANA, Cuba, March 29, 2008.- Cuba and host Portugal will meet in five friendly matches before the upcoming Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Dusseldorf and Espinho.

Ariel Saenz, the Technical Director of the Cuban Federation made the announcement here and considered these matches as very helpful for the young Cuban squad.

After the retirement of Pavel Pimienta and Tomas Aldazabal, the team will rely on the experience of middle blockers Roberlandy Simon and Odelvis Dominico.

More Spanish

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, March 27, 2008.- The coach of the Dominican Republic Women’s Team likes the round-robin competition format to be in place during the next World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tokyo, Japan on May 17-25.

“I consider it a fair system for all the teams involved,” said Beato Miguel Cruz. “Nobody will have advantage over the rest of the teams and it will allow us to use a day-by-day approach like in the World Cup.”

Korea, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Japan are the representatives of.....More Spanish

SAN JUAN, Puerto  Rico, March 26, 2008.- In route to the Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Espinho, Portugal, the Puerto Rican National Team will play several exhibition matches to complete its preparation for the important competition where the squad is looking to qualify for the first time to the Summer Games.

The men’s team has already confirmed four matches against the national teams of France and Italy, informed Carlos Beltran, the President of the Puerto Rican Volleyball Federation. More Spanish

BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic, March 25, 2008.- More than twenty thousand enthusiastic fans watched the weekend action of the Boca Chica Beach Volleyball Tournament, the first leg of the 2008 NORCECA Circuit.

The gold medal’s and several selected matches of the event won by USA and Cuba in men and women respectively, were on national television and telecasted to the Tri-State area of USA (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut).

Around fifty journalists covered the competition for printed media and radio and TV stations. More Spanish

BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic, March 23, 2008.- Americans Ed Ratledge-David Fischer and Cubans Ion Canet-Nirian Sinal were crowned as the champions of the Boca Chica Beach Volleyball Tournament sponsored by Presidente Light with a total prize money of US$10,000.

Ratledge-Fischer came from behind to edge the Puerto Rican (2) pair of Orlando Irrizarry-Roberto Rodriguez in an emotional match by score of 18-21, 21-13, 17-15.  More Spanish

BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic, March 22, 2008.- Costa Rica, Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago and Puerto Rico moved to the final four phase of the women’s Boca Chica Volleyball Beach Volleyball Tournament the first of eight stops of the 2008 NORCECA Circuit. In the next round, Costa Rica will face Puerto Rico while Cuba will meet Trinidad & Tobago.

The Costa Ricans Ingrid-Morales-Natalia Alfaro first defeated Barbados (Julia Lewis-Lauren Whitehall) 21-12, 21-12 and the beat the pair of Trinidad & Tobago (Nancy Joseph-Elki Phillip) 21-11, 21-9. More Spanish

BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic, March 22, 2008.- USA, Puerto Rico 1, Jamaica and Puerto Rico 2 advanced to the semi final round of the men’s side in the Boca Chica Volleyball Tournament, the opening event of the 2008 NORCECA Circuit sponsored by Presidente Light with a total prize of US$10,000. USA and Jamaica and the two Puerto Rican teams will meet on Sunday.

The Americans Ed Ratledge-David Fischer entered the final four’s round with victories over Dominican Republic 2 (Charlin Vargas-Roberto de Jesus) by score of 21-14, 21-16 and then dispatched the Cuban pair of Yoendry Kindelán-Leonel Munder 21-17, 21-19. More Spanish

BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic, March 21, 2008.- The men’s teams of USA, Puerto Rico 1, Costa Rica and Cuba finished with 2-0 records in the first day of the Boca Chica Beach Volleyball Tournament.

The American tandem of Ed Ratledge-David Fischer survived a tough first match against Puerto Rico 2 of Orlando Irrizarry- Roberto Rodriguez 21-23, 22-20, 17-15 and then beat St. Kitts & Nevis (Shawn Seabrookes-St. Clair Hodges) 21-8, 21-10.

Puerto Rico 1 of Abdell Otero-Juan Rivera beat Dominican Republic 2 (Charlin Vargas-Roberto de Jesús) 22-20, 24-22 and Barbados (Elwyn Oxley-Winston Gittens) 27-25, 21-17). More Spanish

BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic, March 21, 208.- The women’s teams of Costa Rica and Cuba won their three matches during the opening day of the Boca Chica Beach Volleyball Tournament, the first leg of the 2008 NORCECA Circuit.

In Pool A, the Costa Rican pair of Ingrid Morales and Natalia Alfaro and in Pool B, the Cuban team of Ion Canet and Nirian Sinal enjoyed a perfect performance battling with the windy conditions. More Spanish

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, March 19, 2008.- The U.S. Women’s National Training Volleyball Team is on a three-week training tour of China that will lead the squad to four different locations for training sessions and exhibition matches against Chinese club teams.

Head Coach “Jenny” Lang Ping will use the tour as an evaluation tool for the young squad. Her team has qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, thanks to a bronze medal finish at the 2007 FIVB World Cup. However, the Team USA Olympic Games roster will not be determined until early July. More Spanish

The new official FIVB website (www.fivb.org) is to be launched in June 2008,  More

HAVANA, Cuba, March 17, 2008.- Cuba capped the men’s volleyball friendly series with a close victory over China at the Sport Palace of Ciudad Deportiva in Havana.

The Cubans recovered from losing the first two sets before an enthusiastic crowd with the emotions reaching the highest levels during the tie-breaker.

Cuba won by score of 20-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19 and 16-14 with Oriol Camejo, one of three brothers in the Cuban side, excelling with his thunderous spikes. Consecutive attacks by Yadier Sanchez and Wilfredo Leon produced the winning points in the decisive set.

Cuba had won the first match of the series by score of 25-23, 20-25, 25-15, 25-19. More Spanish

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, March 14, 2008.- Pairs from eleven countries will be taking part in the Boca Chica Beach Volleyball Tournament, the first leg of the NORCECA Circuit sponsored by Cerveza Presidente. The event to be held on March 20-23 has a total prize of US$10,000 for both genders.

Twelve tandems will compete in the men’s division while eight combos will dispute the supremacy in the women’s bracket.

Countries with registered players for the tournament are: Barbados, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, Trinidad & Tobago and United States. More Spanish

Lausanne, March 12, 2008 – Dr. Rubén Acosta, President of the FIVB, opened the 2008 Board of Administration meeting Wednesday in the new FIVB Boardroom in Lausanne. For the first time in many years, the Presidents of the Commissions were requested to make their presentations during the Board in order for all members to immediately discuss the proposals before they are forwarded for approval at the 31 FIVB World Congress.

After welcoming all members, the President stressed that the objectives of the meeting were to discuss transparency in FIVB finance and accounting changes. More

HAVANA, Cuba, March 7, 2008.- The Cuba Men’s National Team will face China in two matches next on March 11-12 at Ciudad Deportiva Sports Palace as part of the preparation for both teams looking toward the Beijing Games.

The Asian team will travel to the Caribbean island on Friday with about 20 players of their training squad as they warm-up as the host country of the Olympics.

Cuba, meanwhile, is training hard for the World Olympic Qualification Tournament to be held in Dusseldorf at the end of May against Spain, Chinese Taipei and host Germany.

Before those official matches, Cuba and China will be facing off in a couple of closed doors training matches. More Spanish

HANGZHOU, China, March 4, 2008 - Olympic Champions China gave some signs of recovery on the road to Beijing by winning their sixth straight match over Cuba in the Women's Volleyball friendly series between the two teams in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province, last Sunday.

In the roaring Hangzhou Huanglong Sports Center, the Chinese team were in good form in claiming a 25-19, 25-23, 22-25, 25-19 victory over the out-of-sorts Cuban team in one hour and 40 minutes.

To shape up the Olympic squad, head coach Chen Zhonghe rested leading scorers Zhao Ruirui, Yang Hao and setter Feng Kun, sending out a starting lineup featuring spiker Li Juan, Ma Yunwen and Wei Qiuyue.

In the first match in Fuzhou, the Chinese, blitzed the Cubans 25-18, 25-22, 25-12 in about an hour and kept the momentum going by winning 25-19, 25-20, 25-17 in Jinjiang also in one hour. More Spanish

World Olympic Qualifiers

Puerto Rico in Portugal and Cuba in Germany

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 3, 2008 – Lausanne, March 3, 2008 – Puerto Rico will play in Portugal and Cuba in Germany during the Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournaments to be held in the cities of Espinho and Dusseldorf respectively. The allocation of teams was decided after the drawing of lots in Tokyo on Monday. More Spanish

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, February 26, 2008.- The NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit will have  eight stops this year, a good sign of how fast is growing after the 2007 edition which had only three tournaments for both men and women.

The Sport Organization Commission, presided by Prof. Alejandro Salinas of Mexico, held a two-day meeting in the NORCECA Headquarters in Santo Domingo on February 24-25, and approved the schedule. More Spanish

All dates approved for NORCECA competitions

New Legal Commission in NORCECA

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic.- More than fifty school teachers, junior players and coaches took part in the beach volleyball clinic presented by Allison Wood of USA under the auspices of the NORCECA Confederation and the FIVB Development Center in the Dominican Republic.

The full-day event covered the fundamental principles and techniques of beach volleyball as well as the rules of the game and the organization process of the competitions.

 More Spanish

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, February 17, 2008.- An International and National Festival of Youth Volleyball will be staged in Dominican Republic next July and the NORCECA authorities expect the participation of around 50 teams per gender. The Youth maximum age is 18 for girls and 19 for boys.

The coordination and supervision of the competition will be in charge of the FIVB Regional Development Center in Dominican Republic under the direction of Prof. Nelson Ramirez.

The news was announced by Ramirez at the end of the meeting of the Technical and Coaches Commission of NORCECA held on Sunday. More Spanish

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, February 17, 2008.- More than 80 teachers and coaches from the Dominican Republic took part of the Fourth Clinic for Physical Education Teachers and Volleyball Coaches conducted on Sunday.

The session lasted from 8:30 in the morning until 6:00 p.m. and was coordinated by Professor Beato Miguel Cruz with John Kessel (USA), Israel Garcia (Puerto Rico)  More Spanish

HAVANA, Cuba, February 16, 2008 - The Cuban Women's team face a heavy schedule in preparation for the Beijing Olympic Games as they attempt to secure a top-three finish and continue a streak of podiums that started with three consecutive gold medals in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta ’96 and Sydney 2000.

The Cuban squad, also winner of the bronze medal in Athens '04, will leave for China on February 20 under the guidance of coach Antonio Perdomo for a training camp and scrimmage matches with Chinese teams, said Raul Diago, President of the Cuban Volleyball Federation. They will then fly to Russia for more practice and matches against strong European teams.

The NORCECA Continental Champions will then fly back to Cuba to participate in the Cuban Sport Olympiad in April in the city of Sancti Spiritus. More Spanish

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, February 15, 2008.- The NORCECA annual commissions’ meeting will be held in Santo Domingo on February 17-25.

The meetings start on Sunday 17 with the Technical and Coaches Commission followed the next day by the Refereeing Commission presided by Cuban Eugenio George Laffita and Costa Rican Jose Luis Jimenez Lao respectively.

On Monday 19, it will be the meeting day for both the Finance and the Marketing Commissions under the presidency of John Griffith of Barbados and Jamaican Patricia Garel respectively. More Spanish

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, February 14, 2008.- For Beato Miguel Cruz there is light at the end of the tunnel for his Dominican Women’s Team currently in preparation for the World Olympic Qualification Tournament to be held in Tokyo, Japan on May 17-25.

“I can see a good chance for us to make the Olympic Games for a second consecutive edition,” said Cruz during a break of a training session in Santo Domingo. “We have had victories or close matches against most of our potential opponents in the Tokyo Tournament.”  More Spanish

LAS PALMAS, Gran Canaria, February 13, 2008.- Puerto Rican Aury Cruz of Icaro Palma Team was included in the Ideal Seven of the HM The Queen’s Cup of Spain.

Cruz, who scored 48 points in two matches, was one of two receivers elected the All-Star of the 33 edition of the competition won by Grupo Murcia 2005 for second consecutive year.

Brazilian Helia da Souza (Fofao) won the election as the best player of the event and was credited also as the Best Setter, while playing masterfully for Grupo Murcia. The veteran player received the Golden Molten Ball as MVP of the tournament.

The Best Opposite was Spaniard Silvia Fernandez de Velasco while scoring 47 points for Voley Sanse of Madrid in three matches.

Polish Malgorzata Glinka, who had 35 points in three outings for Grupo Murcia, was also selected as part of the team as Receiver. More Spanish

LAS PALMAS, Gran Canaria, February 12, 2008.- Dominican Prisilla Rivera was the top scorer for Grupo Murcia 2005, winner for second year in a row of the HM The Queen Cup of Spain.

Rivera totalled 36 points during the three matches won by her side in the event held at Centro Insular of Gran Canaria. Polish Malgorzata Glinka followed with 35 tallies and Brazilians Walewska Moreira and Jaqueline Carvalho contributed 32 and 30 points.

Grupo Murcia 2005 debuted with a 25-21, 25-15, 25-19 victory over Gran Canaria Hotel Cantur with Glinka leading the scoring with 15 points. Carvalho, Moreira and Marisa Fernandez had 12, 11 and 10 respectively and Rivera added 9.

In the semi final match won by score of 25-13, 25-18, 25-16 over CV Albacete, Rivera, Carvalho and Fernandez each scored 11 points while Moreira and Glinka had 6 apiece. More Spanish

Lausanne, 11 February 2008 – The FIVB has granted Puerto Rico Women’s team the place available in the Olympic World Qualification Tournament to be held in Tokyo from 17 to 25 May. Following the Continental Qualification Tournaments, the final place for this eight-team tournament was to be decided by a Playoff between Peru and Kenya, the teams ranked second in the South American and African Qualifiers, but both teams dropped their applications. Uruguay (third in the World Rankings for South America) wasn’t ready to apply, while Egypt (third in the World Rankings among African countries) has not played in any Continental Qualification Tournaments. In these circumstances, the FIVB has chosen Puerto Rico, the best Norceca team in the World Rankings after Dominican Republic.

Eight teams will compete in Tokyo for the last four places in the Olympic entry list: Japan (host country), Thailand, Korea, Kazakhstan (best-ranked teams in the Asian Continental Championship), Serbia, Poland (best world-ranked team from CEV), Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (best world-ranked teams from NORCECA). More Spanish

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, 5 February 2008 – The process to compile the entry list for the 2010 FIVB World Championships has just started. The National Federations affiliated to the FIVB have been summoned to the qualification process, by receiving all the official documentations.

The goal has already been set by Dr. Rubén Acosta, President of the FIVB: a record number of countries registered for the largest worldwide Volleyball event ever. Italy for the Men’s competition and Japan for the Women’s tournament will host the Championships in 2010, with 24 teams for each gender. That will be the last part of a huge event: the qualification process which will involve the entire planet.

1 May 2008 is the deadline for all the National Federations to register their teams for the 1,2,3, and Playoff Round Tournaments. Each Federation has also received the conditions to organise the qualification tournaments. More Spanish

HAVANA, Cuba, February 5, 2008.- The Havana City team edged Camaguey in a close match 3-0 (29-27, 25-22, 25-22) winning the first place in the First Category Women’s National Championship played in the 19 of November Hall at Pinar del Río.

Several players of the champion team in the Pan American Games of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, developed a tough battle for the victory excelling both in defence and offence.

In the match for the bronze medal, Villa Clara defeated Pinar del Rio by score of 25-15, 25-23, 20-25 and 25-17. In the rest of the standing placed the teams of Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos and Havana.  More Spanish

TOKYO, Japan, February 5, 2008.- Dominican Sidarka Nunez has been an instant success in the Ranking Challenge Japanese League scoring 73 points in her first two matches both wins for Ageo Team.

A member of the Dominican National Team, the hard-hitting lefty totalled 68 kills on 114 swings, and added two blocks and three serving aces.

Two other Dominicans, Bethania de la Cruz and Cindy Rondon, are also enjoying splendid starts in the Ranking Premier League.

Considered the best Dominican attacker, De la Cruz has contributed to the first place currently occupied by Toray Team (8-3) scoring 140 points in five matches. She has 131 kills and 9 blocks. Rondon, a middle-blocker for Denso Team (7-4) has 125 points divided in 109 attacks, 14 blocks and 2 aces. More Spanish

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, February 5, 2008.- USA Volleyball announced its choices for Athletes of the Year, Team of the Year and Coaches of the Year as part of the United States Olympic Committee’s (USOC) annual awards program.

Tayyiba Haneef-Park and Ryan Millar were selected as the Female and Male Indoor Athletes of the Year. Misty May-Treanor and Todd Rogers were chosen as Female and Male Beach Athletes of the Year. May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh earned the Beach Team of the Year distinction. Lora Webster was tabbed as the Sitting Volleyball Player of the Year. More Spanish

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, February 5, 2008.- Hector Soto, the stellar member of the Volleyball Men’s National Team, was elected as “Athlete of the Year” for second consecutive time and will be the recipient of the ASES Award presented by the Sport’s Museum of Puerto Rico.

Soto received 48 per cent of the vote of a poll conducted by “Primera Hora” daily newspaper.

Soto enjoyed a dream year in 2007 winning three titles as best scorer in the Rio de Janeiro Pan American Games, the NORCECA Continental Championship in Anaheim, California and in the World Cup in Japan. More Spanish

HAVANA, Cuba, February 4, 2008.- Teams of Camaguey and Villa Clara, winners of pools A and B respectively, will meet against Pinar del Rio and Havana City in the semi finals of the Volleyball Women’s National Tournament.

In the quarterfinals Pinar del Rio defeated Santiago de Cuba 25-17, 25-14 y 25-22 and the girls from Havana beat Cienfuegos 25-18, 25-14 y 25-18.

Yumilka Ruiz, captain of the National Team, led Camaguey to victories over Havana 3-1 (25-29, 22-25, 27-25 y 25-18) and Santiago de Cuba 3-0 (25-19, 25-22 y 25-18.

Meanwhile, Villa Clara and Pinar del Rio both finished the preliminary round with 2-1 record, but Villa Clara won the pool by points-ratio.

Middle blocker Rachel Sanchez, of Pinar del Rio, and who replaced Zoila Barros as starter in the National Team during the last two international competitions, was the leading scorer for the first round with 56 points. More Spanish

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 11, 2008.- Puerto Rican Hector “Picky” Soto was selected the Most Valuable Player of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier. Soto was the second best scorer of the competition won by USA.

Mexican Ivan Contreras was the top scorer and his countryman Tomas Aguilera was the player selected as “Rising Star.”

American Richard Lambourne was credited as best receiver and best libero, and he was joined in the All-Star by team mates Sean Rooney as best spiker, Ryan Millar as top blocker and Clayton Stanley as the best server. More Spanish

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 11, 2008.- USA won a ticket to the Beijing Olympic Games with a clear victory over Puerto Rico in the final match of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The American blocking (13-5) proved to be too much for the host Puerto Ricans. The score was 25-20, 25-19, 25-20.

Seldom used Sean Rooney was spectacular today for the winning side, attacking way over the blocking and finishing with 16 points, while David Lee and Clayton Stanley each had 10 points. Ryan Millar had five blocks among his 8 points. Hector Soto had 16 points for Puerto Rico.

“I feel relieved and excited,” said Hugh McCutcheon, the coach of USA. “The team rose to the occasion and we executed in all the aspects of the game. So many guys performed at their highest level and with a lot of energy.” More Spanish

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 11, 2008.- Cuba finished in the third position at the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament after prevailing against Canada by scores of 25-23, 25-23, 24-26, 25-23.

Rolando Jurquin and Robertlandy Simon led five Cuban players in double figures with 18 and 16 respectively. Henry Bell had 13 and Yoandry Leal and Raydel Corrales each had 11 tallies. Fred Winters, Chris Wolfenden and Dallas Soonias had 21, 19 and 16 points respectively for Canada.

“I want to thank all the fans of Puerto Rico for their great support,” More Spanish

To all the loyal fans of the sport of volleyball, we do express our most sincere gratitude for the support that you have given to our Men’s National Team during these six days of this qualifier for the Olympic Games Beijing 2008.

During this week, the eyes of the world have been focused on Puerto Rico because the success that we have achieved has travelled the whole planet.

We have carried out our signal through radio, television and internet in and outside of Puerto Rico so nobody could stay without enjoying this historic tournament, but you, those who night after night crowded this court and enjoyed in live our victories, I paid my respect for trusting in this team and for accompanying day after day on our way to Beijing.

Once again, thanks and God bless Puerto Rico. Spanish

Carlos Beltran, President of Puerto Rico Volleyball Federation

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 11, 2008.- Mexico recovered from losing the first set and went on to beat Dominican Republic in four sets to finish fifth at the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier. The score was 22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-20.

Once again veteran Ivan Contreras topped the Mexican offense with 21 points. Four other team mates had double figures: Gustavo Meyer and Irving Bricio added 13 apiece while Juan Garcia and Tomas Aguilera contributed 12 and 10 respectively. Victor Batista and Jose Caceres had 25 and 20 for the Dominican Republic. More Spanish

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 11, 2008.- Trinidad & Tobago defeated Barbados in five sets to finish in the seventh position at the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The score was 23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 20-25, 15-11.

Marc-Anthony Honore led the winners with 28 points and Jessel Davis and Christian Francois added 13 apiece. For Barbados, Fabian Cox and Elwyn Oxley each scored 13 and Romer Agard had 11.

It was only the second win ever for the Trinidadians against their Caribbean rivals with the other coming two years  More Spanish

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 10, 2008.- Puerto Rico will meet USA in the decisive match of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The host team moved to the gold medal match with a win over Canada 41-39, 25-21, 25-19 on Thursday night before more than 9,000 spectators.

Hector “Picky” Soto led Puerto Rico with 27 points and Jose Rivera and Luis Rodriguez added 11 and 10 respectively. Dallas Soonias (22), Fred Winters (11) and Steve Brinkman were in double digits for Canada.

“We have played a great match and our serves complicated the game for the Canadians,” More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 10, 2008.- USA moved one step closer to Beijing while advancing to the gold medal match in the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament with a victory over Cuba in straight sets by score of 25-22, 27-25, 25-18.

The Americans will play against the winner of the match Canada-Puerto Rico later today.

Clayton Stanley and Riley Salmon each had 11 points and Sean Rooney and Ryan Millar contributed 9 and 8 respectively.  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 10, 2008.- Dominican Republic defeated Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 28-26) advancing to a match against Mexico on Friday for the fifth position of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

The Dominicans had to come from behind (22-24) in the third set. One spike by Victor Batista followed by one service winner by Jose Caceres sealed the victory.

Caceres had 17 points, including four blocks, and Batista provided 14 to the winning effort. More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 10, 2008.- Mexico advanced to the match for fifth place of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier by defeating Barbados in straight sets by score of 25-13, 25-17, 25-15.

Iván Contreras, who is leading all the scorers in the competition, added 20 points increasing his total to 97. Gustavo Meyer had 13 and Juan Virgen contributed 8. Elwyn Oxley was the best scorer of Barbados with 9 tallies.

“After the painful loss of last night against Puerto Rico I had some concerns about the mental state of my team,” said Jorge Azair.  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 9, 2008.- Host team Puerto Rico survived an intense battle of five sets against Mexico and advanced to a semi final match with Canada in the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The score was 25-23, 30-28, 22-25, 19-25, 15-11.

Hector Soto led Puerto Rico with 24 points and Jose Rivera added 19. Enrique Escalante contributed 11 and Luis Rodriguez came off the bench to score 4 points in the tie-breaker. Ivan Contreras and Irving Bricio scored 27 and 20 respectively and Juan Garcia and Tomas Aguilera added 12 and 10. More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 9, 2008.- Cuba will meet USA in a semi final match of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. They advanced by defeating Dominican Republic 25-15, 25-21, 25-23 in the quarterfinals.

Rolando Jurquin led Cuba with 15 points, Raydel Corrales added 12 and Henry Bell contributed 10. Odelvis Dominico and Roberlandy Simon each added 9 points. Jose Caceres and Victor Batista totalled 21 and 10 points for Dominican Republic.

”We are catching our rhythm and this one has been our best performance,” said Orlando Samuels, the Cuban coach.  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 8, 2008.- Third world-ranked USA joined Canada in advancing to the semi final round of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier after a victory over host Puerto Rico in straight sets before an enthusiastic local paid crowd of 9,750 at Coliseo Hector Sola Bezares. The scores were 25-21, 25-23, 25-22.

The triumph secured USA a place in the semi final round. Puerto Rico will meet Mexico on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

Clayton Stanley and Ryan Millar led USA with 15 and 12 respectively and David Lee,  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 8, 2008.- Canada won Pool B of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier by defeating Mexico 25-21, 25-19, 26-24.

The Canadians finished with a 3-0 mark and advanced directly to the semi final round. Mexico (1-2) finished third and will meet the loser of the match between USA and Puerto Rico in the quarter finals.

Dallas Soonias and Fred Winters topped Canada with 15 and 12 points respectively and Mexico had Ivan Contreras (17), Gustavo Meyer (11) and Irving Bricio (10) in double-digits. More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 8, 2008.- The Dominican Republic defeated Barbados in straight sets (25-19, 25-19, 25-17) and advanced to a quarterfinals match against Cuba on Wednesday. The Dominicans (1-2) ended in third place of Pool A and Barbados finished in fourth (0-3).

Jose Caceres led three Dominicans in double figures with 15 points, followed by Victos Batista and Eury Almonte with 11 and 10 respectively. Fabian Cox and Renier Grace each had 9 points for Barbados.

“We came trying to secure the advance to the next phase and we did it,” said Jacinto Campechano, the Dominican coach.  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 8, 2008.- Cuba defeated Trinidad & Tobago in consecutive sets (25-13, 25-8, 25-15) in the first match of Tuesday at the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Cuba (2-1) finished in second place of Pool B while Trinidad & Tobago (0-3) placed fourth.

Roberlandy Simon was the best scorer of Cuba with 10 points, including three blocks, and Rolando Jurquin had two blocks among his 8 tallies. Trinidadian Marc-Anthony Honore scored 10 points. More Spanish  P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 7, 2008.- Puerto Rico won a tough battle against Dominican Republic in three sets (28-26, 25-21, 38-36) advancing to a decisive match against USA for the first place in Pool A of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier on Tuesday.

Hector Soto topped Puerto Rico with 26 points and was helped in the attack by Jose Rivera and Luis Rodriguez with 15 and 12 points respectively. Dominican Jose Caceres led all the scorers with 29 and Victor Batista added 19.

“It was a very emotional game and we had problems adjusting our blocking even that it was against two players,”  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 7, 2008.- Dallas Soonias scored 28 points and Fred Winters added 20 leading Canada to a 25-23, 19-25, 26-24, 25-20 victory over Cuba in the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The Canadians are one win away of winning Pool ?

Murray Grapentine contributed 10 points for the Cannucks. Raydel Corrales, Rolando Jurquin and Roberlandy Simon had 19, 14 and 13 points respectively for Cuba.

“We beat Cuba, one of the top teams in the world and feel very happy,” More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 7, 2008.- USA rolled past Barbados in straight sets by scores of 25-14, 25-10, 25-16 for their second victory in as many outings at the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Sean Rooney led USA with 20 points, Ryan Miller added 9 and Clayton Stanley contributed 8 points, including five aces. Shawn Simpson had 9 tallies for Barbados.

“We have a good practice in the morning and were prepared for the match,” said Captain Thomas Hoff. More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 7, 2008.- Mexico (1-1) took an easy victory in straight sets over Trinidad & Tobago (0-2) in the first match of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier in Day Two of action. The scores were 25-20, 25-13, 25-11.

Ivan Contreras and Juan Garcia had 12 and 11 points respectively for Mexico while Trinidadian Marc Honore had 9.

“I hope my team can get into a better rhythm as the competition continues,” said Jorge Azair. “I have confidence in my young players combined with the experience of Ivan.” More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 6, 2008.- Puerto Rico breezed past Barbados in the nightcap of Day One of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier winning by score of  25-13, 25-12, 25-19.

Victor Rivera was the best Puerto Rican with 13 points and Enrique Escalante and Rene Esteves added 7 and 6 respectively.

“I think we have to play better tomorrow against Dominican Republic,” said Carlos Cardona, the coach of Puerto Rico. “We had to put some players into our mix in the third set and I expect to improve in the next matches before the home crowd.”  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 6, 2008.- Cuba downed Mexico in straight sets relying on their usual strong attack. The score was 25-19, 25-23, 25-20.

Raydel Corrales was the star of Cuba with 17 points, scoring in 15 of his 21 killing attempts, and Rolando Jurquin and Henry Bell each had 12. Mexican Ivan Contreras led all the scorers with 21 points.

“I think both teams can play better than today,” said Orlando Samuels, the Cuban coach. “We did not have many chances to play before this tournament but we hope to improve with the competition.”   More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 6, 2008.- USA debuted in the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier with a convincing victory in straight sets over the Dominican Republic by scores of 25-13, 25-19, 25-19. The Americans totalled 11 blocks against only 2 by the losers.

Gabriel Gardner, Clayton Stanley and Thomas Hoff each contributed 8 points for USA, Victor Batista and Jose Caceres had 13 and 10 for Dominican Republic.

“I am quite happy with the victory,” said Hugh McCutcheon, the USA Coach.  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 6, 2008.- Canada won the first match of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier by defeating Trinidad & Tobago in straight sets by scores of 25-9, 25-14, 25-15.

Dallas Soonias led Canada with 11 points and Luis-Pierre Manville came off the bench to add 10 tallies. Steve Brinkman contributed 8 points.

“We focused in the process of making the right plays to win the points,” said Glenn Hoag, the Canadian coach. “We will try to do the same against Cuba tomorrow.” More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 5, 2008.- There are at least four teams with fair chances to win the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament and grab the only ticket available to the next Olympic Games in Bejing, China.

That’s the way of thinking of the coaches expressed during the press conference held on Saturday before the General Technical Meeting.

USA, the only team to defeat Brazil in the World Cup, almost qualified to the Olympics in that event, only to see its chances to vanish away after losing to Russia in a decisive match of five sets. More Spanish

“With the arrival of a new year, and from the deepest of my heart, I want to express to all the members of the Volleyball Family around the World and especially to those in the NORCECA Continent, my best wishes of happiness and success in 2008.”

“It is time to set new goals for the next twelve months and for a fresh start with renovated strength towards a bright future.”

“God Bless you.”

Cristóbal Marte Hoffiz

President of NORCECA

Spanish

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 2, 2008.- The 2008 NORCECA Men’s Continental Olympic Qualification Championship will be played January 6-11 in the city of Caguas, with USA as the top favourite of the eight-team event to be held at Hector Sola Bezares Coliseum.

Following its fourth-place finish at the FIVB World Cup, Team USA’s world ranking has improved from fifth to third behind Brazil and Russia. Nevertheless, it can expect a battle from several NORCECA teams, particularly Canada, Cuba and Puerto Rico, which defeated the United States in four sets at the World Cup and went on to finish sixth.

The other teams that have confirmed their participation in the qualification championship are Mexico, Dominican Republic, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago. All competed at the 2007 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship in Anaheim, California. More Spanish

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 22, 2007.- Veteran Yumilka Ruiz was elected as the Most Valuable Player of the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifier won by Cuba on Saturday by defeating Canada in the match for the gold medal.

Ruiz, who was the best spiker of the competition, finished as the second top scorer of the six-team event. She was the only Cuban included in the All-Star Team.

Puerto Rican Sarai Alvarez was the best scorer and her team mate Debora Seilhamer won the awards as best defender and libero.

Canadians Tasha Holness and Larissa Cundy made the ideal team as best blocker and setter respectively while Dominican Cosiri Rodriguez took the plaque as best receiver.

Mexican Celida Cordova won as best server and her team mate Xitlali Herrera was selected as the Rising Star. More Spanish